Take 'Em and Break 'Em
by Dr. SecretAgentMan
Summary: "In the end, the characters we create are only people, and like people, in order to see what they are truly made of, we must break them." A series of one-shots focusing on the dynamics of our favorite crime-solving team, and the moments that either make or break them.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Criminal Minds or anything associated with it… Aside from this fanfiction of course.

I've been hoping to combine a bunch of one-shots and drabbles together focusing on character development and team relationships. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Rated T for some cursing and mention of sensitive subjects.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX (Rossi and Reid)

If Reid were to take a guess, he would have chosen Morgan to be the one he woke to at the hospital, feet resting close to his hip on the bed, either lightly dosing or fully alert depending on how long he'd been there. His next guess would have been Garcia with the constant clicking of her knitting needles, and after that, maybe JJ if she had already gone to visit Henry. He might've expected Hotch if he wasn't aware of the amount of paperwork his boss was currently knee-deep in or Emily if Sergio was still being looked after by her neighbors.

But never would he have expected to wake to the familiar scent of expensive, Italian cologne wafting his direction from the eldest of his colleagues, who looked quite at home with one hand balancing an obviously well-read book and the other trapping one of Reid's wrists in a comforting gesture.

Reid swallowed slightly.

"Morning, Rossi." He mumbled.

Rossi's response was to jump, apparently not expecting the voice. He then immediately relaxed, flashing a soft in his younger colleague's direction. The book was closed slightly but still at the ready, as if the older man wasn't expecting him to be up for long.

"It'd actually be afternoon, kiddo. You slept through lunch." The elder profiler retorted with a snort. "Would you like me to grab the nurse, so she could get you something to eat?"

Reid hesitantly shook his head. He knew what was causing his discomfort, and it wasn't the thought of lunch. Still, he didn't think he could eat anything, not without the bile rushing up and out of his throat in response to the guilt churning in his stomach. He had hid it from the earlier nurses, effectively dodging their intrusive questions, but his team was built up of profilers experienced in reading others in some of the worst of situations. One of them was bound to notice, and apparently, as the team's oldest profiler fixed him with a stare and slipped the book back down to the floor, Rossi had.

There was the briefest moment of silence, where Reid knew Rossi was debating on how to breach the topic, a moment of silence which Reid used to finally divert his gaze from the other man and turn his head down in shame.

"You know, I have a brother who was addicted to pain killers."

Reid blinked in surprise and risked a glance to Rossi's form, so relaxed at the side of his bed. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach where he felt he knew where this story was going, but he was Reid and therefore always curious, so he nodded slowly, averting his glance to better take in the sight of Rossi's hand wrapped around his wrist. He felt a stab of discomfort at that, Rossi's well-weathered hands clasping something so dark and tainted with the substance rushing through his veins.

"He had early onset arthritis, you see," Rossi continued nonchalantly. "And the doctor prescribed a certain amount of pills for him, but the pain was too much with only that amount. So without consulting his doctor, he began to take more than the prescribed dosage. First it was three pills and then four, and then he went for six, seven, even eight. "

His dark eyes were trained on Rossi's face, so clear unlike the distant gray spackling of the hospital room walls. He wasn't smiling, but his body language showed his was content, if constantly aware.

"He overdosed twice in one year; we had to take him to rehab, get him set on a program to get him back on the right track. He fell off the wagon a few times, landed himself into some pretty bad places. He attempted suicide because he thought he couldn't live without taking another pill."

Was his heartbeat loud enough for Rossi to hear? Could he make out the fear gathered in Reid's mind? Did he know how badly Reid wanted to run, to rip off every damn wire and tube attached to his body and bolt out the door away from his team's disappointed stares?

"I was scared for him. I lived in constant fear that the brother I had looked up to would lose himself in something I couldn't understand."

Reid's breath's sped up, faster and faster and _faster_. The hand attached to the wrist that Rossi held groped at the bedsheets with increasing force.

"But do you know one thing, Spencer? One thing that held true throughout the entire ordeal?"

Reid shook his head. No, he didn't want to know. He didn't want to hear how much Rossi hated him, how _disgusted _he was with him. Rossi was a part of the team, his _family_, and he couldn't stand the thought of losing him. Reid just couldn't.

Rossi continued anyway.

"Despite the pain, I went through, despite the fear I knew, no matter what happened _I never stopped loving him. _My brother, who chose to place his addiction over anyone else, was still given every ounce of love I have." Rossi's calloused hand came up to gently tilt Reid's chin to face him. "I still love my brother who _chose _to return to the addiction; I am not going to stop, and the team is not going to stop loving you, when you did not even _choose _to take Diluadid again."

"But I-"

"No." Rossi spoke with a force Reid had become familiar with over the years, from countless times watching the older profiler in the interrogation room. "You are not at fault here, Spencer. The _unsubs_ kidnapped you. _They_ had hostages. _They_ knew about your former addiction, and _they_ used it against you. _They_ threatened to kill everyone there if you didn't take the drug. This is not your fault. Noneof this is your fault."

Tears leaked out of Reid's eyes.

"But.. Rossi, I-I'd never for five years, I-"

"No, piccolo." Rossi's thumb wiped away a tear from Reid's cheek. "You gave up something you had been working on for years to save the lives of that family. None of us are mad at you for that. Any anger you see, whether it be mine or Morgan's or anyone else's on the team, is not against you. We're angry at the unsubs for putting you through this again. We're angry that we weren't the ones to go in there, that we couldn't do anything to help you while you suffered at the hands of those bastards."

The hand on Reid's wrist tapped reassuringly.

"We're not angry at you. _You_ did well, Reid. We're all proud of you."

And Reid was not ashamed to say that the tears he cried then were of relief.

XOXOXOXO

First Criminal Minds fic, and with my two favorite characters, too! Yay! I hope to make this a thing, at least once a week add in a oneshot/drabble to this.

**As always please read and review, and I am always open to suggestions! Please PM me if you have any and I shall try to add them in!**

**-D. SAM**


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